Starborn: Origin of the Stars

The Starborn - the biggest slap in the face of humanity since even the librarians can remember. Robin loved everything about them, every little piece that was known - which, by all means, was not much. But that made this topic only more interesting for him.

Some thousand years ago, precisely in 2284, humans began to explore the stars. New technologies allowed mankind to go further than ever before - and not just with some satellites or drones. Humans became travelers among the stars.

It’s said that in the old days, mankind had one burning question:

Are we alone in the wide cosmos?

Sometime after the era of star-traveling began, this question was answered, much to anyone’s surprise with a quite resounding ‘Yes, we are alone!’.

Even with all the exploration, no one could find any proof of other civilizations out there. Space was just that: wide, cold and empty.

Religion and churches had the time of their lives. Humanity, created by god alone and ruler of all other creations! There were even some shifts in the power dynamics between churches and governments, which resulted in less traveling among the stars and more focus on Earth, the Cradle of Humanity.

That all changed in 2467, when a small science outpost on the moon installed a new kind of radio-station and caught a signal that seemed to be an emergency message. While the message could not be deciphered, its origin could be traced back. So, Earth sent The Contact, a spaceship specifically built for such a situation, to a desolate moon of a long-explored and forgotten planet in the system.

Their findings would change everything.

The first shock came to the religions: The Contact found an old, ruined laboratory. Books had to be rewritten:

We are not alone, there are other species out in the cosmos!

Scientists flooded the place and researched every little piece of data, technology and material they could find. That took some time, but ultimately a truth was unveiled, one that shook all of humanity:

The Starborn, an ancient race of humanoids, ruled whole galaxy-wide empires with thousands of different races and cultures. They stood at the peak of the stars and had no equals. They had bodies, vastly more powerful and enhanced than mankind could even begin to understand. Their minds could rival the best computer systems Earth had to offer and they had a never-ending thirst for knowledge.

One day, unknown circumstances led one of their kind into hiding from the empire, to build the laboratory The Contact was investigating. We have no names, not even a concrete feeling for the timescale, but ultimately, proof was found that this researcher of the Starborn was doing forbidden experiments, in an attempt to create a new glorious race, one that could rival the Starborn itself. There were tons of experiments and data, but in the end, he failed. All he managed to produce was a reduced, primitive version of the Starborn that did not match any of his set criteria.

But as the new race showed at least some kind of self-awareness, he didn’t kill off his few samples, but brought them to an inhabitable planet in this otherwise empty galaxy.

Fear grew among mankind, while their best scientists tried to salvage some DNA samples from the laboratory. Only a few days later, they got sad certainty - Earth is not the Cradle of Humanity, but the playground for a failed experiment!

This revelation hit the people quite hard and led to some unrest and even rebellions against the churches and governments. It took Earth more than three decades to calm down and for humanity to find a new, collective goal to work for.

United, with a purpose and loads of new technologies at hand, the humans redoubled their effort to travel the stars:

Onwards, out of their godforsaken galaxy, to prove themselves worthy among the other races and claw their way all to the top of the food chain.

‘’Tch…’ Robin scoffed as he thought about mankind’s history.

‘We’re fools, clinging to outworn beliefs of superiority that stem from a time where we couldn’t even leave Earth.’ He chuckled, ‘The Starborn are long gone, their empire fell apart millennials ago and new races have emerged to rule. We should use our resources to explore the wonders of the universe and not for haggling over political influence and technologies of others.’

Dissatisfied, he closed his Interface after confirming that there were no new discoveries related to the Starborn.

While mankind happily accepted the fact that the Starborn suddenly vanished from the known galaxies a long time ago and now tried to take their spot, Robin was more interested in the hidden story of this mysterious race. Why did they leave? Where did they go? Why are there nearly no traces left?

He really wanted to travel among the stars some day. After his life planning was messed up early on, Robin worked hard towards a job as technocrafter. His mutation was a great asset for this, but in the end, it will not even lead him to leave this planet. That’s why he used his time to make proper preparations. He got a piloting license a few years ago and was close to finishing the construction of his very own ship. While only designed for planetary flights, he will use it as reference for his qualifications, when he finally applies for a job on one of the intergalactic ships of the UAS.

From there on, his own journey truly will begin!

With those blissful thoughts in mind, Robin left the train and made his way to Jim’s Broken Wing.